Indians Prospect Insider

On a day meant for celebration, the 6,576 fans that filled Eastwood Field rooting for the Mahoning Valley Scrappers had very little to celebrate, watching their hometown team fall 11-6 to the Williamsport Crosscutters. The Scrappers could only muster two hits against Williamsport starting pitcher Julio Reyes, who was making his first start of the season.

The Captains defeated the Lugnuts 13-0 on Thursday, grabbing their fifth win in a row. Lake County had as many hits as they had runs and held Lansing from coming around to home even once throughout the night. A strong fifth inning helped the Captains really capture the victory, scoring seven runs on seven hits alone in that inning. They also drew a walk and two players were hit by pitches.

As they began their final series of the road trip and before the all-star break, the Akron Aeros had the upper hand in a battle of the bats as they defeated the Richmond Flying Squirrels 11-8 on the Fourth of July at The Diamond in Richmond, Virginia. Both teams combined for 21 hits, with hitters Carlos Moncrief and Jake Lowery contributing to the Aeros’ effort.

On this July fourth, the Windy City ThunderBolts would like to declare their independence from Avon, Oh. The Crushers beat the Bolts 5-1, clinching the series sweep behind a third straight brilliant performance from the starting pitching. Dave Middendorf pitched eight innings, giving up just one run on four hits, striking out three. He earned the win to improve to 6-3 on the season. The Crushers are now 20-21.

A very Happy Fourth of July to all of the IBI readers! What better to celebrate our independence than good food, fireworks, and another edition of Minor Happenings! In today’s abbreviated version of the Happenings on the Indians farm (still over 2300 words), Tony takes a long look at the emerging star that is second baseman Joey Wendle and just how good of a prospect he really is for the Indians. He also provides tons of comments from Ross Atkins on Clint Frazier, Mitch Brown, Kieran Lovegrove, Juan Herrera, and many others.

The losing ways of the Columbus Clippers continued this past week as the team finished below .500 again at 2-6. The month of June will be one to forget for Columbus as the team wound up with a 8-20 record in that span without winning a single series. July has gotten off to a slightly better start for the Clippers who are currently 2-2 in the month. Join the IBI's Ethan Day as he recaps the week that was for the Clippers...

The Indians experienced all sorts of delays on Wednesday night, first due to weather and then another one later in the game due to a power outage. In the midst of all of that the Indians bullpen struggles resurfaced again as Bryan Shaw threw gas on the first in the sixth to turn a 3-1 lead into a 5-3 disadvantage. The IBI's Michael Hattery shares his second thoughts on some questionable bullpen management by Terry Francona.

In what is becoming an uncomfortable theme thus far on the season, the AZL Indians blew another lead in the late innings, but managed to come back and top the AZL Royals by a count of 4-3 Wednesday night at the Indians’ facility in Goodyear. The victory was largely due to the success of Joel and Francisco Mejia, who combined for three of the AZL Indians’ seven hits and three of their four runs on the night.

Kansas City seemed like they tried every way to beat the Indians Wednesday night off the field. No, it wasn't Mother Nature or a power outage that would prove disastrous, but rather Royals first baseman Eric Hosmer that left the Tribe in the dark, as they fell to the Royals 6-5, snapping their five game winning streak.

Sometimes greatness can spoil people. Francisco Lindor could spend almost every night atop Around The Farm, though sometimes we can take his all-around excellence for granted. Lindor is one of the transcendent prospects in the game of baseball and is the kind of talent every team wants in its system. The shortstop was at it again Wednesday night, along with plenty of other players throughout the system. To read all about them, join Jim Piascik as he goes Around The Farm.

On a night when the Akron Aeros needed a stopper, they got three. Needing a win to end a four-game losing streak and avoid a series sweep, Aeros lefty Matt Packer and righthanded relievers Enosil Tejeda and Jose Flores combined on a four-hitter Wednesday night as the Aeros slipped by Bowie, 3-1, at Prince George’s Stadium.

The Carolina Mudcats finished their series against the Lynchburg Hillcats Wednesday night at Five County Stadium, defeating the Hillcats 5-4. Starting right-handed pitcher Michael Peoples tossed 5.1 innings for the Mudcats, allowing four earned runs on five hits.

The Columbus Clippers snatched the lead from the Toledo Mudhens in the sixth inning and preserved it during the last three innings for the 3-2 win. The Clippers took full advantage of their bullpen, using four pitchers in the last three innings to keep the Mudhens scoreless.

The Lake County Captains’ offense exploded for a season-high 21 hits during a 10-5 victory over the Lansing Lugnuts on Wednesday night. Right-hander Jake Sisco (4-6, 3.55) manned the mound for the Captains to counter Lansing righty Roberto Osuna (3-4, 4.20). Osuna was ranked the Toronto Blue Jays’ sixth top prospect by Baseball America for 2013.

Alex Kaminsky threw seven shutout innings against the ThunderBolts en route to a 3-0 Crushers win. Kaminsky improves to 3-4 on the season after allowing just three hits, one walk, and one hit batsman. The Crushers are now 19-21.

Following a rain-soaked Tuesday night which saw the Mahoning Valley Scrappers and Jamestown Jammers game postponed, the boys picked-up where they left-off in the second inning and the Scrappers prevailed 5-3. In the nightcap of Wednesday’s doubleheader, which was only slated for seven innings due to the late start and a travel day following for both teams, the Scrappers dropped the rubber match of the three-game series against the Jammers, losing 7-3.

The Cleveland Indians announced today that the club has reinstated outfielder Michael Bourn from Major League Baseball's 3-day Paternity List and optioned left-handed pitcher Nick Hagadone to Triple-A Columbus to make room for Bourn on the 25-man roster.

In this week’s first edition of Minor Happenings, Tony takes a look at the big month that outfielder Carlos Moncrief had and just what kind of prospect he is for the Indians. He also checks in on the progress that right-handed pitcher Dylan Baker is making this season, provides several comments from the front office on players in the upper levels like Bryan Price, Jose Ramirez, Jose Flores, Ronny Rodriguez, Enosil Tejeda and others, and offers up updates and insight into the development of Toru Murata, Shawn Morimando, Juan Romero, Anderson Polanco and more!

The Lake County Captains suffered a four-game losing streak this past week, but have rebounded over the last three days winning three straight. The offense still struggles to produce runs, but the batting averages have collectively jumped. The starting rotation stepped things up as only one start was rough this week and the bullpen has done its best to keep the team within games. The IBI's Stephanie Metzger recaps the week that was for the Captains...

Well, we're at the halfway point in the season and nearing the All-Star break and our beloved Indians are not only on a five-game winning streak, they've also overtaken first place in the division at least for the time being. So how has the the bench contributed to the Tribe's success this season? Jake and Hayden discuss that along with the guys who have most and least impressed them in the first half on tonight's edition of Call to the Bullpen.

Available IBI Books

The 2014 Cleveland Indians Baseball Insider book featuring the Indians' Top 100 Prospects and more is now available. Also, previous editions from 2008-2012 are also available at a discounted rate. Just click on the book image for more information. Thanks again for all the support!